Hidden winners and losers

WITHOUT A doubt, President Bush was the biggest loser in Tuesday's election. He took a "thumping," as he said himself, even though not a single vote was cast directly for or against him. But he was not alone; Donald Rumsfeld was close behind. And other hidden winners and losers could be found from coast to coast -- persons whose names appeared on no ballot, but who had a big stake in the results.

Phil Johnston, chairman of the Democratic State Committee, was one of the hidden winners. Right after the September primaries, he accused Republican Kerry Healey of coming "perilously close to race baiting" in her remarks on immigration. Healey jumped to the attack, demanding that Deval Patrick can Johnston for his unseemly comment. It was a bit over the top at that moment, but it set down an important marker. Later, when Healey ran nasty ads about crime, many voters saw a racial tinge, and it hurt Healey badly.

Mitt Romney was a hidden loser -- badly enough to put a nick in his national ambitions. Healey, his hand-picked lieutenant, was drubbed by Patrick, while former Cabinet secretary Charlie Baker, who would have been a stronger candidate, was blocked by Romney. (This makes Baker a hidden winner.) Meanwhile, the already beleaguered Republicans lost legislative seats in both 2004 and 2006, while GOP registration dropped. Not great credentials for a presidential candidate.

Immigrants were hidden winners. Nationally, several of the most strident anti-immigrant congressional candidates lost. And in Massachusetts, neither Chris Gabrieli, in the Democratic primary, nor Healey gained anything by opposing in-state tuition rates for illegal immigrants at state colleges. A recent statewide poll by the McCormack School of Public Policy Studies at UMass-Boston shows why. When respondents were told that the legislation would grant the lower rate only to high school graduates who had been in the state three years, they favored offering the lower rate by 71 to 23 percent. In addition, only 4 percent said immigration was of overriding importance to them.

Talk radio was a loser, and not just because John DePetro was kicked off of WRKO because of boorish comments about gubernatorial candidate Grace Ross. Several talk radio hosts were clearly enamored with Christy Mihos, but that exposure, combined with $4.2 million in spending and air time in the debates, still did not push him past 7 percent on Election Day.

Mercifully, in many campaigns around the country, including Massachusetts, sharply negative advertising boomeranged, giving voters a hope, at least, that they will all be winners of more positive elections in 2008.

ROBERT TURNER